Quilled Dimensional Nature Picture Frame - Chickadees on a Pine Branch

Well, I posted a tutorial on making pine branches in my last post and you may have been wondering how I came about making pine branches when I had not used it in any of my posts. Ta Daaa!!.... here it is!! I was so excited at the way they turned out I could not resist posting the tutorial ahead of the quilled frame.

 I saw some pictures of Chickadees and thought I must quill them. Since Christmas is almost upon us I decided to use pine leaves. Further I wanted to  give it dimension and this gave me the opportunity to go on a journey of creative discovery.

Here is a different perspective to show the dimensions in this frame.

I have used fiberglass cloth for the background and was forced to use the glue gun, much to my dismay as I could not get the PVC glue to adhere to the background.


In order to shape the pine branch and have it come out of the picture, I used very thin gauge wire for the skeleton of the branch.

As for the Chickadees, I have used black, white, grey and orange 3mm strips.The method is the same one I have been using  for quilling my birds for some time now and involves folding the strip to get the thread like effect. The finished product looks like embroidery with paper strips in place of thread. This method allows me to grade the colors when required.As you can see in the lower bird,  I have got a light orange shade at the breast between the white and the orange.

I have made the feet using quilled stems as in my tutorial here . Take a closer look.

All in all, I am thrilled at the results. I would be honored if you take time to comment  on my posts.

New Quilling Technique Tutorial - Realistic 3D Pine Leaves

 Last year I posted some tutorials and quillings tagged under  Christmas quilling and though I did a tutorial on 3d pine cones I did not post a tutorial on the leaves as I did not really like the way they turned out. But this year I have figured out a better way that makes them look more real especially if you use thicker paper. I have used 80 gsm as that is what is available to me.

METHOD

Make a long stem as in  my tutorial here. You can insert a thin gauge wire if you want your pine leaves to be flexible. Stiffen it by coating with glue and let it dry well.

Take a few 3mm strips and fold them like a fan as shown above. The length will represent the length of the leaflet, so make sure you fold all to the same size.

Tear the fan so you have a V shape for each leaf and then cut length wise about 2mm short of the end. Shape the edges so they are pointed like pine leaves. Shape it like the real leaf for a more realistic look.

Now insert your quilling tool in the middle of the uncut edge and curl the strip around the edge as shown above. this helps the fringe to spread out. In this method, you are basically making a fringed flower using the 3mm breadth of the strip.

While it is still on the quilling tool, wrap a 3mm brown or green strip as shown above. Make sure you only wrap it round twice and it is not too thick. Use thin paper of about 70 to 80 gsm.  Then  fold the fringe to one side and curl it as shown above. Just scoring on the inside with your nail should do the trick.

Make a lot of these as you are going to use between 4 to 5 for each ring of leaves.

Now take each leaf segment and glue it onto the stem so it has the leaves spreading right around as shown in the pic above. Make sure you glue at the same place like you glue petals.

The pic above gives you an idea of how you should glue it. Use about 4 or 5 leaf bundles depending on the density of the leaves required.

Now continue in the same fashion, gluing the leaf bundles around the stem at close intervals. Make sure the consecutive rows  of leaves are glued between the previous row's leaves as you do with multilayer petals. Look at the above pic for guidance. When you reach the length you require, flatten the stem and glue two leaf bundles to complete the tips of the leaves.

If you require the leaves to branch make sure you construct the branched shape with the stems before you glue in the leaves.

Above is a sample of the finished pine branch.
 I look forward to reading your comments as always. Good luck!!

Quilled 3D Flower Frame - White Cherry Blossoms and Ceylonese Tree Nymph Butterfly

Well, I had a major issue with my Windows logon and have been shut out of the net for far too long. Had to restore my old version and lost all my software. I hate blogging from the android as typing with one finger is so uncomfortable.

Anyway thing are limping back to normal as all things eventually do.... So here I am back again with a post. Sorry I have not been visiting you guys!! I surely will, as soon as I get things back in order.

I have made the spray by combining the flower on stalks by imitating the inflorescence of the flowers and have used 1mm strips to make peg petals using the method I gave in my Butterfly Flower Frame.

 I have used wire stems and affixed it to the flower as in my tutorial here. The easiest easiest way to make the bunch is to look at the real thing and attach the flowers just like it using a 3mm strip to wind around the stems. Give a coating of glue to keep them firm. The wire gives you flexibility to arrange the flowers as you wish, later on.

I have cut the leaves out of paper and scored lines on it keeping it on a semi soft surface. I folded along the lines to make them stand out. Have a closer look :

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For the butterfly, I have combined quilled basic shapes and folded basic shapes.  The body of the butterfly is made with shaped pegs and the wings are spread at a 50 degree angle. I adopt various ingenious methods to keep the wings at an angle. Using the glue gun is one way. I have followed the vein segments as closely as possible to get an authentic look for the wings.

Come tell me what you think.

Quilled Doodle Wall Frame

Everyone's doodling so I practiced some of my graphic quilling skills and created this doodles canvas with my favorite medium, paper strips!! I used black card strips for the straight line geometric doodles.

 Well you can use quilled doodles on your cards too if you like and unlike flowers it is quick to make and looks modern. I have used 3mm strips and 4 colors, namely, maroon, orange, biscuit and black.

The shapes include basic shapes, multi strip shapes and beehive quilling which I always try to use wherever possible.

Well I hope you like this and are spurred to quill your own doodles!! Love to have your feedback.

Quilled Nature Landscape Painting - Flowing River

It has been a while since my last post, but here I am once again with a quilled riverside landscape. This time I have tried out chrismas trees .

For this project I have used several techniques and concentrated on getting the shapes to fit the element it represents. I think you need not stick to basic shapes but  hand make any shape that you think represents the item best.

The whole frame is 3mm thick  is 8x11 and I have not layered it to create dimension. I have used dark and light and size to create depth just like in a painting.

I have also tried quilling clouds for this one and have used grey, blue and white to give depth to the clouds.

For the water I have just used torn strips the same as  described in Tree & Water. The addition of white gives it a beautiful effect.

I am unable to give a step by step description on how it is done as I change my method and shapes from scene to scene and can't quite tell you what I did once it is done, but what I can tell you is that I have not quilled any basic shapes for this project except for the trees in the horizon for which I have used beehive quilling like I did for Flower Fields  and Quilled Tree. Most of the others are hand folded or rolled.

When an idea hits me I just draw the element like for example the tree canopy on a rough sheet and then take a few strips and follow my idea and see how it looks from a distance. If I do like it I will use that idea in the scene. Further, I would use different basic shapes for each tree so that the dissimilarity is clear.



Would love to know what you think as always as you are my inspiration.